After the “Trump affair”, Borat 2, the new adventures of journalist Borat Sagdiyev alias the facetious Sacha Baron Cohen, continues to make waves across the Atlantic. Outraged by the vision given to Kazakhstan, which it considers caricatural, the Kazakh American Association has just asked, in an open letter addressed to the Academy of Oscars, that this satirical comedy be simply excluded from the list of nominations.
The reasons for “censor“Borat 2 of the Oscar race, invoked in the missive of the KAA indeed seem particularly serious:” The Kazakh-American community and the Kazakh community around the world expressly request that Borat 2 was not selected for the Oscars because it conveys stereotypes, racism and xenophobia associated with Kazakh culture.“
At the time of writing, neither the Hollywood academy nor Sacha Baron Cohen wished to react to the accusations of the American-Kazakh association.
Borat 2 subject to the new Oscars rules?
The question now is whether this request could be considered by the Academy of motion picture arts and sciences (Ampas), which recently laid out a new rule of eligibility for Oscar nominations. Not immediately anyway, because if these new rules take into account criteria of ethnic or gender diversity, – which would correspond to the grievances criticized by the film by the KAA -, they will not be applicable until 2024, which protects , for a time, Borat 2 of the slightest Hollywood censorship.
Fine acid satire, pastiche with vulgar accents, or even simple light comedy to be taken in the second degree, like the OSS 117 of Michel Hazanavicius who gleefully mocked France of the Fourth Republic, Borat 2 divides up to Kazakhstan. Because after having censored the first Borat, the Kazakh authorities ended up using the second version for tourist and commercial purposes by diverting Sacha Baron Cohen’s favorite gimmick: “Very nice!“.
It remains to be seen from now on whether the jurors of the Oscars and other Bafta will also find that the absurd adventures, even duly named by the selection committee, will deserve to receive the most prestigious trophies of the seventh art in 2021 …
Borat, new filmed mission by Jason Woliner in 2020, with Sacha Baron Cohen
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